The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1887-04-21

warks of our social system.
BILL ARP.
Stick to the Farm.
Had we the ear of every young farmer
in the Southern States, we would say to
him, and repeat it over and over again,
"Stick to the farm" Ennoble your call.
ing. Educate yourself for it, and by
judicious experiments, close observations
and untiring labor and painstaking, make
it the source of mental improvement,
pleasure and profit. When We say edu.
cate yourself for it, we do not mean edu-
cation in the schools and colleges, though
we think that in these far more attention
should be given to the branches connect.
ed with agriculture. We mean that the
young farmer should, by a judicious
course of reading and thinking in the
intervals oflabor, acquire the intelligence
that is indispensable in his calling. Let
him read attentively short elementary
works on geology, chemisrtry and plant
physiology. The necessary books can be
got for not more than two dollars. Hav.
ing laid the foundation in these, let him
continue the course through life by sub
scribing for one or two good newspapers.
We don't mean agricultural papers which
treat of nothing but the one subject, but
good weekly newspapers, from which he
can store his mind with information on
all topics. Nearly all the leading week.
lies have department devoted TO agri-
culture, conducted by competent editor.
A society of young farmers in each
neighborhood would be most valuable
adjunct.
Let him make experiments Of his own,
cautiously and daily learn something by
observation. 1t is certain fact that
every acre of land, if it has medium
subsoil, and is pretty we'll drained, can,
by careful tillage and judicious use Of
home made fertilizers, be made to yield
twice the quantity of cotton or corn that
it yields with the ordinary tillage. A
careful selection of seed alone will always
increase the crop, and if perseyered in
may double the yield and give perman-
ent variety, valuable not only to the pro
ducer, but to his fellow farmers. Let the
young farmer give his attention to these
things adding daily to his knowledge,
adding yearly to his profit. It is undeniable
that agriculture is the civilizer of man.
kind and the ultimate source of the wealth
of all nations. Let every young farmer,
then, be proud of his calling, and seek
to adorn it.
We are aware that spirit of unrest is
abroad among the young farmers of the
South. For some years their labors have
been hard, and their profits small and
slow to accumulate. Many of them fancy
that q surer, shorter, less laborious road
to competence may be found in the pro-
fessions, in trade, or in other kinds OF
labor. In this they are mistaken. The
depression is widespread-wide as the
civilized world it permeatesevery avoca-
tion, every rank of society. The profes.
sions are overcrowded. Here and there
is 8 professional man who acquires com.
petence and fame; but for every one of
these there are scores who exc out a
meager subsistence, very many of them
not knowing how they are to pay their
board or house rent at the end of the
month nor their grocer's and butchers
bills at the end Of the week. One reads
and hears of the successful ones, but not
of the others just as one reads of the few
who draw the big lottery prizes among
the news items Of the public prints, but
the names of the thousands who draw the
blanks-neverl
And in the mercantile business-few
young farmers can form a conception of
the physical and mental labor the mer-
chant and his clerks and other employees
must undergo. For the former, days of
toll and sleepless nights of anxious
thought For the latter, days of unre'
mitting slavish work, uneasy doubts as
to what the future, with the vicissitudes
of trade, may bring! Homeless and with.
out means or employment! Can our
young farmer friends fancy the full
meaning of these words? And how
many merchants succeed in their bus
mess? We have it stated, by good
authority, that not more than five out of
hundred retire from business with q
competence. The other ninety.6ve see
their capital slowly melt to nothingness,
or is swept away at one fell swoop that
brings bankruptcy and ruin to the mer-
chant and loss of position to his employ.
ees.
And what of the other forms of labor
in which millions are engaged? What
Of the great army of wage.workers--is
peace, and plenty and contentment found
in their ranks? Is there no unrest there!
What of the privation they and their
families have endured for years? And
remember that most of them are without
homes of their own. What of the exac.
tions of which they complain (whethel
justly or unjustly we shall not stop to
inquire). Consider the strikes and lock.
outs of the present decade, the thousands
who are thrown out Of employment, the
days, weeks, months and years of enforc'
ed idleness. And remember that every
strike and lockout is sharp two edged
sword that cuts both ways. Employers
and employees alike suffer.
Let the young farmer compare lots
with all these-the professional men, the